Victims of Maoist violence with placard during their visit to the national capital, New Delhi, Image Courtesy, The Narrative World
“My brother was brutally murdered by the Maoists, when I was hiding nearby after being hit by a bullet in the legs, my mother was crying and requesting everyone in the market to intervene but no one dared, such is the fear of Maoists, “Bhagwan kisi jo bhi ye din na dikhayen” (nobody should see a day like this),” said Kedarnath Kashyap, a resident of Kondagaon who was part of the delegation of 50 such victims who recently visited the capital city of New Delhi, protesting against the decades long Maoist violence in the hinterland of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar.
Kilometers away from Kondagaon, Radha Salam, a resident of Narayanpur recalls that she was happily walking towards Aanganbadi with her brother when she noticed a shiny object in the way, assuming it a toy Radha’s brother excitedly picked up the shiny tiffin box, leading to an explosion that permanently damaged the left eye of Radha. The incident pertains to 2013, when Radha was only a 3-year-old kid, a decade later she still carries the burnt marks of splinters which stemmed out of the bomb planted by the extremists.
A year later, Sukki Madkam, a resident of Sukma district was only 14 when she suffered critical injuries in a similar explosion leading to amputation of her left leg below the knee. The incident is of 2014 which has forced Sukki to walk with assistance for the rest of her life.
Six years after the explosion that badly injured Radha, Sunita Hupendi, a resident of Rampur Kuwapara of Kanker suffered grave injuries after she mistakenly picked up an explosive device and bring it home. The device exploded in her hands causing severe injuries to her left hand, right legs and ribs.
Madvi Nanda, a 22-year-old tribal youth from Bijapur accidently came in contact of an IED explosion leading to amputation of his right leg below the knees. In another incident, a woman identified as Kartam Jagakka (45), who was the sole breadwinner of her family suffered severe injuries in an IED explosion planted by the outlaws, the explosion eventually led Jagakka to depend upon her family members for her daily activities.
These are the heart rendering tales of a few of the victims who have mustered the courage and have risen up against the decades-long ongoing violence perpetrated by the Mao’s men in remote areas of Bastar, otherwise known for its scenic beauty and lush green forests.
The victims who have faced atrocities at the hands of the Naxals claimed, that around 8000 civilians have already been perished in the blood soaking conflict, signifying the chilling reality of the killing fields of Bastar, marred by leftist extremism for decades. To put the overall causalities in figures, over 11000 people have already been killed in the deadly conflict in the last two and half decades.
The severity of the situation could be assessed by the fact that over 100 civilians (mostly tribals) including of political representatives having separate ideological commitment other than the Maoists have been brutally executed by the Maoists in the last two years alone, this reveals the grim reality behind the conflict, allegedly committed to safeguard the rights of tribal community.
Recent killing of civilians by Maoists: –
Maoists abducted Dudhi Arjun, a resident of Gondpalli and produced him before a Jan Adalat, a self-styled Kangaroo court of the Maoists. Dudhi was beaten black and blue by the members of the proscribed outfit who later strangulated him to death on suspicion of espionage related activities. The deceased was a Shikshdoot (A contractual government employee tasked with teaching children of remote areas) under Jagargunda police station limits of Bijapur district.
On September 9, Maoists abducted Madavi Suja and Podiyam Kosa from Jappemarka village under Mirtur police station limits of Bijapur. Both Kosa and Madavi were later paraded before a “Jan Adalat”, and hanged to death in full public view on alleged charges of espionage. The responsibility of the gruesome incident was claimed by Bhairamgarh Area Committee of the outlawed CPI (Maoist).
On August 28, a civilian identified as Sudru Karam was picked up by Maoist cadres from Timnar area, under Mirtur police station limits of Bijapur. The ultras forcibly took him to the nearby forest and executed him by alleging him for being an informer. Sudru’s body was later recovered from the outskirt of the village.
On August 25, Maoists produced another villager, Situ Mandavi, a resident of Bhairamgarh before a Jan Adalat and announced a capital punishment for him subsequently. Following the public hearing, Mandavi was reportedly kept as hostage after which his body was recovered from the outskirts of the village. A hand written note was also recovered near his body in which the Maoist had alleged Mandavi for being an informer of the police.
An elderly villager was executed by the Maoist on charges of spying activities on August 24, the deceased was identified as Lancha Punem, a resident of Poosnar village under the Gangloor police station limits of Bijapur district.
Although the violence against civilians in the deadly conflict is not new, experts claim that the recent surge is directly connected to the advancement of security forces in interior regions of Bastar, earlier dominated by the Maoists.
Narrative peddled by Urban Naxal group
The victims of the Maoists violence during their recent visit to the national capital were heavily critical of the group of people commonly referred to as Urban Naxals. According to the victims despite the unabated violence being unleashed by the armed Maoists in separate pockets of Bharat for decades, the group has remained steadfast in glorifying the violent movement as struggle of the marginalised.
These people who are otherwise liked to be identified as right activists, journalists, intellectuals, lawyers, filmmakers etc. not only sometimes openly support the cause of the violent group but they also provide legal aid to the extremists as and when required in guise of human rights, while they turned a blind eye on the agony of victims of Maoist violence at the same time, said the victims in an official statement released after the protest.
Notably, people associated with separate right groups are often witnessed attending protests alleged to be organised by separate frontal groups of the Maoists, providing mentorship, intellectual and legal support. Most of such protests are believed to be aimed at hindering the advancement of security forces and development works in the region marred by violence.
“They (Maoist) have got massive support from cities like Delhi, Mumbai, all on the name of legal support and other things, they labelled charges on police personnel along providing funds on the name of assisting the tribals. Bastar has witnessed such incidents in the past as well when people from these cities had arrived here on pretext of interacting, helping tribals and passed information about those people who aligned with security personnel to the extremists, leading to their execution by the Maoists,” said a senior official of the police deputed in Maoist infested Kanker district.
Significantly, sensing the sinister designs of the Urban Naxal group, the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has himself warned about the continuous attempt made by these people into luring innocent minds in anti-national activities for a number of times.
Government’s approach to the decades-long conflict
Despite the hindrance caused by the frontal outfits and their urban mentors, the incumbent union government has achieved significant success in tackling the issue of insurgency, reducing the impact of the group in states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha in the last one decade.
The same has been reflected in the figures pertaining to incidents of violence and causalities which has been reduced drastically as compared to the height of the insurgency in the year 2009-10. More recently the government has announced that it is committed to eradicate the Maoist menace from Bharat before March, 2026, raising speculation over a decisive campaign against the armed group.
The efforts put in by the government in finding a permanent solution to the Maoist problem have been yielding fruitful results lately, which is being duly reflected in surge of surrender by the local Maoists cadres, denoting acceptance of the development policies of government among the locals, who were earlier alleged to be aligned more with the Maoists cause, either out of fear, belief or the propaganda propagated by the group.
Moreover, the voices rising against the one-sided violence against the innocent civilians by the Maoist group is another glaring example that the tides are slowly changing in the Bastar’s hinterlands. Perhaps the residents, particularly those affected directly have come to the realisation that generations have been lost, grappling with the dark shadows of the red terror and its high time that they should stand up and fight to save the future ones.
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